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Jason Richards’ Column

Published: 11/1/2007

Views: 1617

V8 Supercars is such a tough competition that you have to constantly make changes and evolve if you’re to have any chance of winning, or at least being competitive, and nothing has demonstrated that to me more than this past week and a half.

While Murph and I in season 2007 have been reasonably competitive, our on-track performances really haven’t met our goals.

Searching for answers, a meeting was held at Tasman Motorsport a few weeks back and a strategy devised to make a difference.

Last week we put the first of those changes in place when we headed to Winton to test our Tasman Motorsport Holden VE Commodores, and I’m pleased to say it was the test we’d all hoped for.

We completed over 300 laps on the day and at the end of it both Murph and I came away happy with the direction we’re now heading with the cars.

Later during the week more changes were made as the team underwent a management restructure, with Jeff Grech taking over as Managing Director.

Jeff’s resume makes for some impressive reading; in previous roles as General Manager of the Holden Racing Team and as a director of TWR Australia, he led HRT and Kmart Racing to six V8 Supercar Championships and six Bathurst 1000 victories.

For a team going forward, he’s the guy you want on your side.

Jeff takes over from Kevin Murphy, who has stepped aside to devote more time to building Greg Murphy Racing, his Fujitsu V8 Supercar and Porsche Carrera Cup teams.

The changes have been positive and the general atmosphere within the team has lifted considerably.

Our confidence has been boosted and while there is still far more to do we can now genuinely consider ourselves contenders as we head towards the season’s biggest races – Sandown and Bathurst.

Change hasn’t only come on a professional level, with the arrival of our daughter, Sienna Jane, on Monday night (6 August) ,meaning there’s going to be a huge change on the home front for Charlotte and myself.

I’m told I’m promised lots of sleepless nights, but being a parent is something we’ve both looked forward to and we’re excited about.